ABSTRACT
Terms such as “plant species diversity” and “species mixture complexity” are used to describe and quantify characteristics of plant communities found in pastures, and have drawn increased attention from the scientific community.  Livestock producers use many methods to alter these characteristics in pastures, including: grazing management strategies; field renovation (altering field conditions to improve/enhance the growth and competitiveness of desirable plant species); re-seeding (planting new forages into an existing sod which is either alive or has been suppressed/killed); and establishment (planting new forage species into a field not previously grazed) of new pastures.  Two of the methods listed, re-seeding and establishment, are accomplished by planting new forage species into the pasture.  To date, most of the research on these plant characteristics, and how they affect pasture productivity and animal performance, has been conducted at the plot-scale rather than whole farm-scale.  Livestock producers throughout the northeast USA were surveyed to determine: 1) whether they had re-seeded old pastures or established new pastures within the last two years; 2) which plant species (grasses, legumes, forbs) they selected for planting; and 3) how they made decisions regarding number and combination of species to plant, seeding rates to use, and assessing field conditions for plant suitability.  Preliminary data indicate a wide range in number (two to nine) of forage species in seed mixtures, with white clover, orchardgrass, and red clover among the most frequently selected.  While about 40% of the plantings were of two-species mixtures (mainly grass-legume), the majority of plantings contained three or more species.